Worker & Community Struggles and Protests Madrid Police "Dumbfounded" After Amazon Called The Cops On Striking Workers 22:31 Nov 27 0 comments George Soros’ Open Society Foundation unmasked in a major leak 22:31 Aug 24 1 comments Shell in court over major Corrib gas refinery flaring events. 23:32 Jul 28 0 comments Eddie Hobbs: Largest act of larceny against Irish people 23:22 Jun 02 0 comments CHASE Fundraising Events Calendar for June 23:10 Jun 01 0 comments more >>Blog Feeds
Anti-EmpireThe Wholesome Photo of the Month Thu May 09, 2024 11:01 | Anti-Empire In 3 War Years Russia Will Have Spent $3... Thu May 09, 2024 02:17 | Anti-Empire UK Sending Missiles to Be Fired Into Rus... Tue May 07, 2024 14:17 | Marko Marjanović US Gives Weapons to Taiwan for Free, The... Fri May 03, 2024 03:55 | Anti-Empire Russia Has 17 Percent More Defense Jobs ... Tue Apr 30, 2024 11:56 | Marko Marjanović
The SakerA bird's eye view of the vineyard
Alternative Copy of thesaker.is site is available Thu May 25, 2023 14:38 | Ice-Saker-V6bKu3nz
The Saker blog is now frozen Tue Feb 28, 2023 23:55 | The Saker
What do you make of the Russia and China Partnership? Tue Feb 28, 2023 16:26 | The Saker
Moveable Feast Cafe 2023/02/27 ? Open Thread Mon Feb 27, 2023 19:00 | cafe-uploader
The stage is set for Hybrid World War III Mon Feb 27, 2023 15:50 | The Saker
Lockdown Skeptics
Labour?s VAT Plan for Private Schools Flunks Revenue Test Sun Jul 28, 2024 19:00 | Richard Eldred
Far-Left Group Claim Responsibility for Paris Arson Attacks Sun Jul 28, 2024 17:00 | Richard Eldred
DESNZ Has Net Zero Competence Sun Jul 28, 2024 15:00 | David Turver
Hate Cleric Raises £3 Million to Create Islamic Homeland on Scottish Island Sun Jul 28, 2024 13:01 | Richard Eldred
Why I Fear What Labour Will Do to the Education System Sun Jul 28, 2024 11:00 | Stephen Curran
Voltaire NetworkVoltaire, international editionNetanyahu soon to appear before the US Congress? It will be decisive for the suc... Thu Jul 04, 2024 04:44 | en Voltaire, International Newsletter N°93 Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:49 | en Will Israel succeed in attacking Lebanon and pushing the United States to nuke I... Fri Jun 28, 2024 14:40 | en Will Netanyahu launch tactical nuclear bombs (sic) against Hezbollah, with US su... Thu Jun 27, 2024 12:09 | en Will Israel provoke a cataclysm?, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Jun 25, 2024 06:59 | en |
Review of SWPs "Why ‘British jobs for British workers’ won’t solve the crisis"
international |
worker & community struggles and protests |
other press
Tuesday May 12, 2009 17:31 by Tratto
Sloganeering and socialism Sloganeering and socialism |
View Comments Titles Only
save preference
Comments (2 of 2)
Jump To Comment: 1 2Well worth reading this article, the SWPs opposition to the Lyndsey strike was terrible exposed them as people who know very little about the real lives of the working class. In Ireland their leading members repeated the same lies about Lyndsey.
The following is a cut and paste article from the Socialist Party England & Wales site. I know this is in breach of editorial policy, however, I ask that it be to remain up given the debate which was arisen on this issue. Without any point-scoring or digs, the article in my opinion raises a serous issue relating to approach around the issue of the race to the bottom and challenges which can emerge for activists and socialists as to the best way to defend workers' jobs, etc.
"The construction workers' demonstration outside the Olympics site on Wednesday 6 May showed the effectiveness of different ideas and approaches within the workers' movement.
"Following the Lindsey dispute earlier on this year, the Socialist Party was criticised by some others on the left who claimed that we ignored the slogan 'British Jobs for British Workers' (BJ4BW), which was a small feature of the strike on the first few days.
"On the entire Olympic site demonstration, I only saw one worker with the BJ4BW slogan on a sheet of A4 paper. When I spotted him, he was being harangued and shouted at by a member of another left group. Realising that she wasn't getting anywhere, the left activist was trying to grab the sheet of paper out of the worker's hand. Understandably, the response this provoked is unprintable, but the left activist cleared off fairly sharpish!
"I went up to have a chat with the worker. He told me he wasn't racist and that it was Gordon Brown who'd said "British jobs for British workers". The lack of jobs and attacks on union terms and conditions made him want to "ram those words back down his throat".
"I told him I could understand where he was coming from, but it wasn't clear from the BJ4BW slogan what the struggle was about - a rate for the job, trade union rights for all workers wherever they're from and an end to the 'race to the bottom'.
"We had a chat about the media coverage of the Lindsey dispute and how the media had tried to make out that the strikers were racist. We came to the conclusion that the bosses' papers are never going to be on our side anyway, but what's the point of giving them ammunition to use against us? At that, he crumpled the BJ4BW sign into a ball, hoyed it away and took a Socialist Party placard with the slogan 'trade union rights for all workers' on it instead.
"As far as I can tell, what those on the left, who claim the Socialist Party turned a blind eye to the BJ4BW slogan at Lindsey, mean is that we didn't turn up on the first day of the strike and shout at the construction workers, calling them racist idiots. This example from the Olympic protest showed quite clearly that such an approach doesn't work, but discussion and providing an alternative and an effective strategy to defend pay and conditions does."